Game device



' June 21,1949. r EJ. FARRIS 473589 y ZAWI l 'UH 1'! i E [71||uHMMMMMIMWfm /f/f" f" """f ll||| f flll T f/ I 27 g ,y i

Eff-2' f Patented June 21, 1949 :GAME DEVICE.

"lEdmundJ, ':Farris, Bristol,"--Pa.

Application-Augustl, 1947, gseriahNo. v'768,315

.This l invention .relates to aggame :device| t and more, particularly. to. a. device 7which; is ..usef.ul...for practicing golfputting `or;the like.

.Variousdevices have i been provided .heretofore which .maybe ,usedrindoors fer fthepurposeaof practicing annd acquiring skill in the .-a'rt of putting a @golf ball. :Such devices usually .embody .-a f cupi-like imemloer -Which can .be )placed on 1 the licor, rugfor -.other -isimilarsupport and which Lis provided `,with 11a. suitable approach xfor the ballso that,l if.ittisiproperlydirected thereto, the .ball-Willi enter:and-.beitrappedintthe cup. common disadvantage. ofasuch' devices-isthat the player mustestoop doWn toiretrive the ball'l from the cup manually :and lthen edeposit it at .some appropriate point spaced from the :cup beiore hecansagainy attempt .,amutt. To overcomezthis inconvenience, :there have 1 ybeen provided ucertain putter Vt'practicingtdevices"which .embody inclined planes having an openingftliereirrl which simulates ancup andzfrom Which'afchuteiortthezlkeeextends forthe purpose-f of returning 'therball tcwardtthe player once it zhas l:entered :the eaforementioned opening. Devices :of the lla-st .mentioned ztype, While being free from thezpreviously.notedidisadvantagezoftherst mentioned typegare, however, generally.quitegbulkyand fairly expensive. :Moreover, devices vofrthessecond: mentionedtypehave the further disadvantage thatfthey depart fradically from conditions usually :encountered vonza putting: green cat anzout'dcor Vflgolf :course iin that they. generally presenta; ratherfsteepl inclinato the ball whereas on-:a .gre'enthe surface is. usually fiat.

.The primary robje'ct fof my rpresent invention is :to :provide a 'novel game device f-v'vhich 'may be :used :'for 'practicing lgolf, VAeither 'indoors =or outdoors, Iwhich ais entirely free lfrom `V`the aforementioned and other :disadvantages `which characterize LprierJ-'ar-t devices ldesigned fior the same: purpose.

:Mere particularly; it isfan'bject omy present invention l`to provide=an improved putter practicing ydevice AWhich *will not "only -feria'ble `vone to acquire skillin tlf-1ez artnr-putting, but vvhich-wi1l enable'. him to 'carryfonthis-activity `continuously Wit-hout `theSnead-fioristooping periodically to retrier/.e iand replace the :played ibail 1in :playing position .before another sho can'be 'taken.

.Another l object nef my presentl invention is :to provide.: anzimprovedc devicef zthe type-: seti forth which vvill --ver'y egreatlyfsimulate putting cconditions fiound frat .the :green .en arconventi0nal A4:golf

course.

y.Stillfanethert object;ofermylpresenteinvention is togprovidefan iniprovedfdevficekas aioresaidvwhich can be .used either singly .or 1in pairsby .one vor more players and, Whenusedin.pairscanlbe arranged E.in .a manner such that .each u'device will automatically .direct .a .ball played thereinto toward a position from which the'ball;can`.be played back to ythe .other Ldevice .of .the .pair, thereby permitting .an l uninterrupted vor endless seriesof .plays in.continuoussuccession A .further object of .my present. invention is. to provide an fimprove'd putter practicing device which will permit .thetpractice of .puttingl in van easy and eicientmanner.

.Stilla further object .oLmy presentinvention istoprcvide adevice of .thetype .setiorth which readily lends.itself.to.thepractice.of `othergames andjskills, .such .as croquet ...loovvling7 etc.

Itis .alsdan obiect..of my present ,invention toproyide anlimprovedgame device. as. above.-.set forth which. is extremely simple Vin construction, which is verycompact in.formand occupies .a minimumamountospace.forstorage, which can be fabricated easily and readily .lends .itself to economicaluquantity` production, v which.- is .highly eiiicient in .use,;.and whichmcay be produced; at

r low cost.

'.In accordance 4with .one form oimyy invention, thetdevice.comprisesl a .pair ofcontiguous. ramps one of which rises .to asornewhat higher. elevatonthan theother with theirinclined surfaces arranged crosswise i .of .each other. The .higher one of the .two.ramps, which may bel designated the inlet ramp, slopes downwardly away from the othertor foutletramn whileftherlatter one slopes downwardlyacross the highend of .the first-.one andiin'adirection generally at -a right angle to the .-slope. of `,thetinleixrarnp A first side Wall. extends :along one :side: ofl theL inlet' ramp and terminates at. the high end (thereof beyond which the lthinrendiof \theou.tlet .ramp is located. -A second :sideA Wall .extends along the .other side of the inlet-.ramp .and salongethefbackffor'high end of the outletiranip-vvhere it-vmeets-.aneend Wall which extends-along cnesideof .the outlet ramp. The two' side .fwallssactfasguidesrbetween vwhich a .l properlyy .putted .ball Awilli roll .upfalong the inlet ramp until it reachesthehigh end thereof yWhereupon itvrillgrolluover onto i-thezoutlet ramp and doivnfalong'the latter-:.betv/een-.the high endz-:of the inlet .ramp :and-.theaforementioned end Wall. The z latter --tvzo cooperatelto yguide i. the `.loall out of .the .device :to .axpositionrffrom which it may again -loe played toward ;a similar adevice l Which is preferably disposed l in opposed :and laterally spaced relation to, and at a suitable distancezfrm, the .lrst adevice. Ilhelinlet rampamay'be considered as corresponding to the cup on a conventional green of a golf course. The inclination of this ramp may be of the order of 10 to 15, although this may, of course, be varied as desired. However, the inclination of the inlet ramp should not be too great in order that the playing condi tions will not depart radically from those found in conventional greens. In any event, it will be apparent that my improved putter practicing device constitutes a compact unit which can be used on a parlor rug, for example, or on a lawn for the purpose of acquiring skill in putting, and this without having to stoop to retrieve the ball at any time after a shot has been made.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description of one embodiment thereof, when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of putter practicing device according to my present invention,

Figure 2 is a central, sectional view thereof taken on the line II-II of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse, sectional view thereof taken along the line III-III of Figure l, and

Figure 4 is a plan view showing a, pair of such devices arranged in opposed relation for practicing or playing by one or more players.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout, there is shown, in Figures 1 3, a putter practicing device I having a pair of ramps 3 and 5 which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprise a pair of wedgelike members arranged with their inclined surfaces 'I and 9, respectively, uppermost. The wedge or ramp 3 starts from substantially a feather edge I I at one end and rises to its highest elevation at its opposite end I3. Similarly, the wedge or ramp 5 starts from substantially a, feather edge I5 (although this is not as important in the ramp 5 for a reason which will appear hereinafter) and rises to its highest elevation at its opposite end I1. However, as will be clearly seen from the drawing, the high end I3 of the ramp 3 extends to a somewhat higher elevation than does the 'U high end I1 of the ramp 5 for a reason which will become apparent presently. Preferably, the thin or feather ends II and I5 of the ramps 3 and 5 terminate in a common plane.

The two ramps 3 and 5 are disposed in contiguous relation with one side of the ramp 5 against the high end I3 of the ramp 3. Moreover, the two ramps 3 and 5 are so arranged that their inclined surfaces and 9 extend crosswise of each other. In other words, in the particular embodiment of my invention chosen for illustration, the inclined surface 9 of the ramp 5 slopes downwardly along the rear, high end I3 of the ramp 3 and in a direction which is generally at a right angle to the direction of slope of the surface 'i' of the ramp 3. Since the end I3 of the ramp 3 extends to a higher point than the end II of the ramp 5, it is apparent that, if a golf ball or the like is rolled up the incline 'I with sufficient force,

it will eventually reach and roll over the high edge I9 of the ramp end I3 onto the inclined surface 9 along which it will then roll down back to the floor or other support on which the device l rests.

To guide the ball, rst up along the surface 1 and then down along the surface 9, the putter practicing device is provided with a long wall 2I which extends along one side of the ramp 3 and along the high end I'I of the ramp 5, the latter being so arranged that its end I'I is disposed in extension of the adjacent side of the ramp 3. A second wall 23, parallel to the wall 2|, extends only along the other side of the ramp 3 and terminates at the high end I3 of the ramp 3 where the low end I5 of the ramp 5 begins. A third wall 25 extends along the side of the ramp 5 which is most remote from the ramp 3 and meets the wall 2|, as best seen in Figure 1. Each of the walls 2|', 23 and 25 is considerably higher than even the high end I3 of the ramp 3. Thus, the walls 2I and 23 act as guides between which a properly addressed ball can roll up along the ramp 3, while the end I3 of that ramp cooperates with the end wall 25 to guide the ball as it rolls down along the ramp 5. The edge Il of the ramp 3 is preferably reduced to substantially a feather so as not to offer any appreciable resistance or obstruction to a ball which is directed onto the ramp 3. However, this is not so important at the edge i5 of the ramp 5 since the ball rolls down over this edge.

The device I may be made of any suitable materials such as wood, metal, hard rubber, plastics, glass, ivory or any other suitable material. The ramps 3 and 5, as well as the walls 2|, 23 and 25, may all be formed as separate, solid pieces and properly assembled into an integral structure, as by gluing, or with nails, screws or the like. However, in some cases, it may be preferable to cast or mold the entire device as one, integral or unitary structure, as where it is made of metal, plastics, glass or the like. In such cases, the ramps 3 and 5 may be made hollow under their inclined surfaces and filled with lead or the like to impart to the device sufficient mass so that it will not be dislodged easily by a ball directed to it. On the other hand, it may suice to provide the under surface of the device with a surface layer of anti-friction material 21, such as a thin layer of soft rubber or felt. Such a surface layer will serve to prevent easy dislodgement of the device, particularly when it is placed on a hard surface, such as a wooden floor.

From the foregoing description, it will, no doubt, be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that I have provided an improved device of the class described which can be used not. only to practice putting a golf ball, but also to improve the aim in such games as croquet, bowling and the like. Two such devices Ia and Ib may be arranged in opposed relation spaced from each other suitable distances both longitudinally and transversely or laterally, as shown in Figure 4. Assuming that a ball 29 is first placed in position A, it can be directed to the device Ia by a proper putt and caused to roll up the ramp 3a and then down the ramp 5a to a position B. From there, either the same player or another player can then direct the ball to the companion device Ib and along its ramps 3b and 5b back to substantially the position A. All this can be done without having to stoop to pick up or retrieve the ball since the outlet ramp 5 will, in all cases, return to the floor or other support on which the device is located a ball delivered to it by the inlet ramp 3.

Although I have shown but a single embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawing and have described several variations thereof above, it will, no doubt, be apparent that many f other variations and modifications are possible.H

For example, instead of making the ramp 5 of a length equal to the width of the ramp 3, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, it may be made either longer or shorter, as may be found suitable. If desired, a suitably curved wall may be placed over the ramp 5 at the corner where the walls 2l and 25 meet. Also, the two ramps may be so arranged relative to each other that their inclined surfaces will extend in directions other than at a right angle to each other. Similar changes within the spirit of my invention will undoubtedly suggest themselves. I therefore desire that the foregoing shall be taken as illustrative only and not as limiting.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device of the class described comprising a pair of contiguous, inclined ramps having their inclined surfaces arranged crosswise of each other, each of said ramps having its lowest point at one of its ends and its highest point at the other of its ends, the high end of one of said ramps being at a higher elevation than the high end of the other of said ramps, said other ramp having its inclined surface extending downwardly across the high end of said one ramp, said 6 ramps being further so disposed relative to each other that the high end of said other ramp is disposed along one side of said one ramp in extension thereof, a rst side wall extending along said one side and said extension, a second Wall extending along only the opposite side of said one ramp and terminating at the low end of said other ramp, and a third wall extending along the side of said other ramp which is remote from said one ramp, said rst and third walls meeting at the high end of said other ramp, and all said walls being higher than the highest point on either of said ramps.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said ramps are constituted by Wedge-like elements.

EDMOND J. FARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,479,673 Phelps Jan. 1, 1924 1,545,329 Johnston July 7, 1925 

